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U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology Within the Cape Fold Beltkaroo Basin System

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U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology Within the Cape Fold Beltkaroo Basin System Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2014 U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology within the Cape Fold BeltKaroo Basin System Justin Raymond Dean Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Dean, Justin Raymond, "U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology within the Cape Fold BeltKaroo Basin System" (2014). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 5456. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/5456 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology within the Cape Fold Belt/Karoo Basin System Justin Raymond Dean Thesis submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science in Geology Amy Weislogel, Ph. D., Chair Kathleen Benison, Ph.D. Ryan Shackleton, Ph. D. Department of Geology and Geography Morgantown, West Virginia 2014 Keywords: Karoo Basin, Cape Fold Belt, Ecca Group, Beaufort Group, U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology, Gondwanide Orogeny, Panthalassan margin Copyright 2014 Justin Raymond Dean ABSTRACT U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology of the Cape Fold Belt/ Karoo Basin System Justin Raymond Dean U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology, in addition to sandstone petrography and heavy mineral analysis are used to constrain the provenance of the Ecca and Beaufort lithologic Groups within the Tanqua, Laingsburg, and Ripon sub-basins of the southern Gondwanan Karoo Basin. Zircon ages were acquired using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma- Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) on 553 grains from seven hand samples. Results show two major age populations exist in all samples including an abrupt 245-295 Ma population and a broad 350-750 Ma population. Other minor age populations are present between 300-350 Ma, 850-1200 Ma, and > 2000 Ma in some samples. These age populations coincide with the age of regional source terranes and tectonic events which consist of: Gondwanide (southern magmatic arc: 245-290 Ma), Pan African (488-1100 Ma), and Pampean (525-550 Ma) Orogenies as well as the Cape Supergroup (400-2700 Ma), Dwyka Glacial Group (500-3500 Ma), North Patagonian Massif (235-580 Ma), Deseado Massif (344-521 Ma), Namaqua-Natal Province (800-2200 Ma), and the Kaapvaal/Kalahari Craton (> 1800 Ma). U-Pb zircon ages within the Tanqua, Laingsburg, and Ripon sub-basins are relatively uniform throughout the middle to upper Ecca Group succession. Middle Ecca Group zircon samples contains the same major age populations as other samples, however, the proportion of Permian zircons are more prevalent than samples collected in the Upper Ecca and Beaufort Groups whereas >1000 Ma zircon are rare and only exist as either minor populations or single grains. The Cambrian to Neoproterozoic age population also varies within samples with an overall increase in grain abundance upwards into the Beaufort Group. The CFB-Karoo basin has been identified as a fold-thrust belt/foreland basin system; however, the Karoo basin sediment composition is inconsistent with derivation from the fold- belt leading to the hypothesis that the fold-belt may not have existed during Karoo basin development (300-250 Ma). Thin-section petrography of 18 sandstone samples does not fully support some previously proposed paleogeographic models. All analyzed samples generally lie in the mixed affinity and dissected arc QmFLt diagram fields. This is interpreted to indicate that the Karoo basin fill was sourced by multiple eroding source terranes causing data to plot as a mixture of multiple contributing sediment sources. In order to further understand sediment distribution within the Tanqua, Laingsburg and, Ripon sub-basins based on north-northeast Permian paleocurrent indicators acquired from previous studies and paleogeographic reconstruction, two primary sediment pathways were hypothesized. The Ceres syntaxis, which separates the N-S and E-W trending branches, may serve as a sediment pathway connecting the hinterland and the main depocenter within the Karoo basin The formation of the Ceres syntaxis is likely responsible for the formation of and deposition into the Tanqua and Laingsburg sub-basins. The other sediment pathway, the Port Elizabeth antitaxis, may be associated with convergence of the Deseado Massif and southern Gondwanna and later associate with the Gulhas-Falkland fracture zone. The formation of this antitaxis was likely responsible for routing sediment into the Karoo Basin. The north-northeast paleocurrent direction also allows northern source terranes surrounding the Kalahari Craton can be eliminated as potential primary sediment sources, therefore grains matching the age of Kalahari Craton rocks that are found in Karoo basin-fill were likely the result of erosional recycling of the Cape Supergroup. Acknowledgments I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Amy Weislogel, for the opportunity to work on such a unique project and for her endless guidance throughout my time at West Virginia University. I would like to thank my graduate committee, Ryan Shackleton and Kathleen Benison for their support. I would also like to thank Dr. Jaime Toro for his extensive assistance with data collection. This project would have been impossible without the collaboration and personal comments from fellow classmate Matt McKay. I would also like to that Dr. Jeremy Hourigan (University of California Santa Cruz) and Dr. George Gehrels (University of Arizona Department of Geosciences) for the use of their analytical facilities. Lastly I would like to thank my family for their unconditional support during my graduate career. iv Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgments vi List of Figures viii List of Tables ix Chapter I: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Sediment Origin ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Geologic Background ....................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1 Panthalassan Margin .............................................................................................. 3 1.2.2 Karoo Basin: Structure and Stratigraphy ............................................................ 5 1.2.3 Sub-basins ................................................................................................................ 7 1.2.3.1 Tanqua sub-basin ........................................................................................ 8 1.2.3.2 Laingsburg sub-basin ................................................................................ 10 1.2.3.3 Ripon sub-basin ......................................................................................... 12 1.2.4 Cape Fold Belt ....................................................................................................... 13 1.3 Subsidence Mechanism ................................................................................................... 18 1.3.1 Flexural Subsidence .............................................................................................. 18 1.3.2 Mantle Driven Dynamic Subsidence .................................................................... 21 1.4 Research Problem ........................................................................................................... 22 1.5 Potential Sediment Sources ............................................................................................ 26 1.5.1 Southern Magmatic Arc ....................................................................................... 27 1.5.2 Dwyka Group ......................................................................................................... 27 1.5.3 Cape Supergroup ................................................................................................... 28 1.5.4 Saldania Belt and Gariep Belt .............................................................................. 30 1.5.5 Kalahari Craton .................................................................................................... 31 1.5.5.1 Namaqua-Natal Belt 31 1.5.5.2 Kaapvaal Craton ....................................................................................... 32 1.5.6 Patagonian and other South American Source Terranes .................................. 32 Chapter II: Methodology ........................................................................................................... 35 2.1 Sampling ........................................................................................................................... 35 2.2 U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology ............................................................................ 39 2.2.1 Maximum Depositional Age .................................................................................
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